


Power of five, closeness of six

by HufflepuffleMarauder



Category: Kung Fu Panda (Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Character Study, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HufflepuffleMarauder/pseuds/HufflepuffleMarauder
Summary: Five distinguishing personalities plus the glue that keeps them togther
Relationships: Crane & Monkey (Kung Fu Panda), Crane & Viper (Kung Fu Panda), Furious Five - Relationship, Mantis & Monkey (Kung Fu Panda), Po & Tigress (Kung Fu Panda), etc
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	1. Pragmatist

**Author's Note:**

> I have been writing this since APRIL. For context if any of you have read my other stuff - I wrote this BEFORE writing "Affirmations". No idea why it took me so long to finally post it... anyway, here ya go:
> 
> If it wasn't already obvious, this is a "five plus one things" story and each of the characters will get their own chapter - I'm not one to leave anyone out haha.
> 
> Pay attention to the titles otherwise the chapters don't fully make sense.
> 
> Also, big thank you to my friend Kitt who came up with the title! You may know them as kfphumans on Tumblr - and if it weren't for them this fic would be stuck with the name "5+1 personalities" haha

* * *

Crane was a think first kick later kind of bird.

He couldn't say the same for the Furious Five though.

Fond as he was of them, their strong and conflicting personalities often made room for some very avoidable mistakes. Mistakes that, if they had just _listened_ to him or used their brains (that probably didn't exist) everything would have been fine. One instance was a time that became known as the “Exploding Building Episode”.

"No. No way. Absolutely not."

"What do you mean?" Viper looked at him accusingly. "We have no other option!"

"Tigress told us to-"

"Tigress is also the one who's currently chained up with Monkey and Po over there, I don't think she really has a choice." Mantis said gruffly.

Crane looked over to where their three other teammates were in a very dire situation. "She said don't do anything." Tigress usually knew what she was doing, right?

"Tigress was worried about her plan anyway!" Mantis said, voicing what they'd all thought the night before. "And if you think she knows what she's doing, Po doesn't look too sure about that." Mantis pointed out.

He was right, Po looked ready to call it a day and go running.

Viper, currently holding the title of kindest member of their team, let out a little sympathy for his worry. "It'll be _fine,_ Crane, everything will work out."

Crane deflated, it was two against one, he had to go with the majority.

"Yeah, what could go wrong?" Mantis said optimistically.

The next few minutes had them hurriedly loading ridiculous amounts of explosives into barrels and various other wooden or flammable objects into a large cart. Viper and Mantis were far too eager to be considered normal. They, along with some of their other teammates, were always excited over blowing things up. It wasn't to be expected from the kind, sweet and understanding Viper, which, in all honesty, surprised Crane greatly in their early missions. Mantis' eagerness was easily foreseen because the guy had some insane ideas sometimes, along with a temper shorter that Tigress', it was a hilarious but dangerous match.

While he grabbed and threw explosives there was the little voice in his head telling him that this was all crazy and Tigress would murder them all if it went wrong. And not for the first time, he ignored that voice. Big mistake number one.

"We're loaded!" Viper called from the front of the cart; lit lantern held in the corner of her mouth.

"LET'S GO!" Mantis roared from the top of the cart, pointing with one of his pincers the building they were about to demolish. "BRING 'ER UP CRANE."

Crane wanted to roll his eyes at the aggressiveness displayed, was he the only sane one around? He obediently secured his talons round the grooves they dug into the roof and took off with a strong flap that made the wind shake. It was surprisingly _heavy._ He almost fell down after getting inches off the ground and _that_ caused his little heart to beat furiously up his throat. Flapping with all his might, he focused on calming his breathing. _This is too heavy,_ his consciousness said. A strong gust of wind meant the cart scraped dangerously close to a very tall tree. _But I can't go back now,_ he argued. But he could. He was the one holding them up. He could just turn around. They were such small animals they would never be able to get the cart to the building. And that meant Tigress wouldn't kill them. Ignoring his mental argument, he tried to focus on the plan. Big mistake number two.

_Oh god we should have thought this through._

Crane felt his stamina slowly decline. And along with his stamina, went his altitude.

"Is it just me or are we going down?" Mantis voiced.

Viper glanced up at him, unable to read his expressions that were hidden by his hat. "I think so. Crane? Do you know what you're doing?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Yep." He attempted to sound confident, but it came out more exhausted.

"He doesn't sound too sure about that." Mantis commented.

"You're not helping!" Viper hissed at him angrily.

Crane secured his eyes on the growing building. _Don't screw up this landing or it won't be just Tigress who'll be mad._ Just a little bit further... He let out a huff of exhaustion, his wings were really starting to hurt and he wanted nothing more than to let go of the cart.

"Crane!" Viper yelled up to him, she was hanging off the edge of the cart with her tail wrapped around one of the wheels. "When you land make sure to do it softly otherwise this will blow up before we can get off!"

"Sure." Did his voice seriously sound that strangled?

Mantis said something to Viper but Crane couldn't hear it over the sight of the building. They were so close! Spurred on and suddenly feeling a wave of motivation, he sped up tremendously subsequently jerking the cart ungracefully. Mantis and Viper both yelped in surprise. Big mistake number three.

"TOO FAST!" Mantis' shout was almost loud to enough to make Crane stop and use his logical thinking. "SLOW DOWN!"

 _But_ , he argued, _if I don't get there soon I won't be able to hold the weight any longer and everything will fall._ Crane knew he was stuck between a rock and a hard place and he had only one solution.

As he flew over their target building, he stopped for a split-second to gather himself for landing. Except it seemed the gods were against him that day. Not adding more friction to the grooves his talons were currently gripping on to was added to the growing list of regrets, as the cart was slowly and very slightly slipping down. Crane supposed he didn't have to _necessarily_ take all the blame for their upcoming failure, Viper and Mantis held just as much responsibility. The two in question were oblivious to his current predicament, as they both held wild and excited grins, which only grew when he sped up even more. They knew Crane always flew at extreme speeds just for the fun of it, but this was more of a _I need to land before I drop everything_ sort of flight. However, this _really_ wasn't his day as his strength started to abandon ship and give up on him. Honestly! Could his stamina have picked a worse time? When Tai Lung beat them all up and turned them into stone statues of tension, he managed to fly everyone all the way back to the Jade Palace, albeit reduced to an exhausted and traumatised mess. Adrenaline was probably the thing that kept him going, and, of course, the necessity to get home. Right now, he was severely missing the latter, because if Mantis and Viper had just _listened_ to him the cart would not be mid- _oh for the love of-_

The fall was as imminent as his swoop down to grab them both. Flying straight up they had a good view of the destruction caused by dropping the cart. The building didn't immediately go up in flames, but the cart left a small explosion.

Viper snaked herself around his body, put her head next to his and followed his eyeline, staring down at their consequences. "This - this wasn't part of the plan - was it?" She whispered in horror.

Mantis managed to hold his silence for a total of ten seconds before asking the obvious question. "So - what do we do now?" He said slowly.

They exchanged a tense look. If Tigress wasn't already going to be angry, after this she was going to straight up murder them and spear their heads on the ends of Monkey's bo staffs. And Crane knew deep down that he'd get the brunt of it. She'd once told him secretly during one of their first missions that due to his careful thought process she trusted him the most to keep the others from doing anything stupid or impulsive. He didn't want to burn that bridge with her so he kept his beak shut about how his logic would do _nothing_ if they didn't listen to him.

Viper saw the look on his face and tried to provide some comforting words. "It's not that bad!" She insisted. "We meant to burn the building down anyway, and you just - uh - sped up the process." Crane had to appreciate her for trying.

Mantis, on the other hand, looked at her as if she was deranged. "Are you kidding?! He just ruined the whole plan!"

"Well we'd all be fine right now if the cart wasn't so heavy in the first place!" Crane retorted; he was _not_ taking the blame for this.

"Guys, don't..." Viper muttered.

"How would we burn the building down if we didn't have all the explosives! Huh?!"

"Guys..."

"If you'd just _listened_ to me then-!"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!" They yelled with such ferocity that Crane momentarily thought it was just Mantis's voice.

Viper looked affronted and whipped them with her tail. Crane felt a shocked sound escape him, forgetting how much power Viper had in her tail whippings. "It's not going to help our situation if you dimwits are arguing!"

Crane certainly felt the guilt, and luckily Mantis didn't object to being called a dimwit.

She took a deep breath and turned her head towards Tigress, Monkey and Po. "Ok, Crane we need to go down there and free them, the explosion is a good distraction so it should be easy." Her authoritative tone was something they rarely heard, with usually Tigress or sometimes Po taking the lead. "Mantis, when we get there cut the ropes and we all run like crazy, agreed?"

They both nodded readily. Crane was about to add his usual sarcastic quip about how he didn't do running he did flying, but he knew Viper was not in the mood, so he left it.

As they got closer to their target the three of them collectively grew more frightened by the second. Tigress had thunder written on her face and Monkey and Po were looking apprehensive. Upon touch down Mantis whizzed round and cut the ropes, then promptly tore off into the night, with Monkey and Po hot on his tails. Viper, still wrapped around Crane, muttered a small apology to Tigress, who gave them a terrifying warning look before following the others. Crane and Viper exchanged a look as he took them to the sky.

Yeah, they were definitely in for it.

* * *

  
  


Another perfectly avoidable example with more dire consequences than Tigress’ wrath was the “Never-listen-to-Mantis Fiasco”, helpfully dubbed by Monkey.

"Master Shifu _strongly_ advised us-"

"AAAAAARGH!" But it was too late and Master Bear went running into the ship with a battle cry, closely followed by Master Croc.

"-not to engage." He muttered the rest of his sentence, knowing it would do nothing. Though a relieving thought was that Mantis would probably take his side after what happened with the recent "Exploding Building" episode.

"We've gotta get in there!" Crane almost sighed, once again, Mantis disappointed him.

"But Master Shifu said-!"

"Are you seriously _afraid?_ " Mantis said disbelievingly from the top of Crane's hat. "Even Master Chicken's going in there! And he's a chicken!" He added the last part so savagely that Crane didn't bother to remind him of Master Chicken's brave battles.

And sure enough, Master Chicken was brave enough to run determinedly into the ship, unsheathing his blades as he did so. Crane wanted to roll his eyes (a common feeling that followed him in his daily life with the Furious Five), he understood not listening to _him_ but Shifu? He was a Grandmaster and had more wisdom than any of them combined.

Right after Chicken had disappeared there was a shocked squawk followed by a flash of green light that made Mantis gasp in horror and jump off the brim of his hat. "That's it! I'm going in."

“Mantis!” Crane hissed. “We have orders-!”

“We have to help, come on!” With his mind made up he scurried his way into the boat. “I go high you go low.”

“No, wait!” Crane was desperate now, Mantis was severely not thinking straight

“Fear the bug!” He yelled his (now signature) catchphrase as he sprung to the top of the boat and dropped into a hole in the roof. “Alright you little-” But the rest of his threat was cut off at a flash of green. Crane was seriously starting to panic now.

“Hold on buddy! I’m coming!” It was a last resort really; he didn’t feel like being on the receiving end of Shifu’s wrath but there was a possibility that Kai could be a lot bigger than what Mantis could take on.

“Antenna of power! Gah it didn’t work!”

“MANTIS!” His worst fears were confirmed as he half flew half ran into the ship and struck a kung fu pose.

He didn’t see any trace of a fight or scuffle. Or _anyone_ for that matter. It was completely empty, devoid of all the previous masters who ran in. Fear started to sink in after he registered the deafening silence. Crane wasn’t one to get scared easily, sure the others teased him a little about being a little more careful than them but he definitely didn’t get scared of their enemies. He was, after all, the only one (tied with Tigress) to keep a calm head during battle. So the answer was always _no Mantis I’m not afraid I’ve just got common sense._

But right now, he was downright terrified. Who _knew_ what Kai did with the other masters? Were they already jombies? Dead and gone forever? Crane fought valiantly against the urge to fly all the way back to the Jade Palace with his tail feathers between his legs. He did _not_ want to die because Mantis couldn’t control his impulses. _But Mantis could still be in here,_ his morals reasoned. An unhelpful image of a squashed and bruised Mantis begging to live zoomed into his mind. He gulped at what his mind provided. _On we go then…_

“Mantis?” He whispered, looking around for any speck of green. “Mantis!” He felt movement behind him, he wasn’t alone.

The last thing he wanted to do was turn around.

The thing behind him was definitely not Mantis, too large. The movement felt fluid, so not robotic enough to be a jombie. Breath on the back of his neck. _Tall,_ maybe the same height as him? Though possibly bigger. The sand shifted massively. So it was heavier than him, maybe Po’s size? His split-second analysis of the thing behind him made him brave enough to turn and look.

His gasp echoed through the empty ship.

Kai was _huge._ Up until then he thought Po and Tigress or even Shen to be the largest animals he’d met but Kai blew them all out the water. His size came at such a shock that at first Crane was lost at what to do. So he did the first thing that came to mind: he tipped his hat and pretended that _he’d never seen Kai._ Sure okay, maybe it wasn’t the best decision he could have made but this was also the most terrifying experience of his life.

Suddenly he was pushed into the ground by a giant hoof. With all the wind knocked out of him he managed to wrap a leg round the arm holding him down and twist Kai round, taking him by surprise. He used this time to ready himself into a battle stance. _Okay calm down, you’ve got this._

Kai huffed and smirked. “Your qi is strong.” He said. “Just like your friend,” he reached down the belt around his waist and showed Crane the glinting green amulet of Mantis. “the bug…”

He was still alive! “Mantis!” Crane sped forward and came only inches from the amulet –

\- only to be thrown back with an incredible amount of force from only a flick of Kai’s finger. The small, deprecating part of him was relieved that Mantis wasn’t there to witness his pitiful defeat. He couldn’t deny that being thrown against the wall of the ship was _painful._ His body wasn’t designed for heavy duty, birds are fragile, and Crane was no exception of that. And besides, he generally wasn’t the one in the group to get hurt anyway. Monkey was notorious for bruising, his carelessness along with his acrobatic fighting style caused him to get some short-lasting but still unnecessary injuries. Viper also, always seemed to get bent into some weird and painful position. Contrary to popular belief, she was not infinitely flexible, something Po was pretty disappointed to learn.

Crane recovered roughly from his collision, though he very much felt the absence of his hat. Taking another trembling battle stance, he realized with humiliation that Kai had _waited_ for him to get off the ground. The embarrassment was heavy, never in all his years of fighting had an opposer waited for him to recover. It meant the fight was fair, but it also meant that Kai pitied him. _I must look pretty pathetic right now._

“Don’t worry little birdie, I’ll put your qi to good use. Destroying the Jade Palace and everyone in it!” Kai’s eyes glowed green as his voice boomed with his threat.

This was the last straw for Crane. _Get yourself together!_ “No!”

He took a barrel in his talons and kicked it at Kai. This didn’t phase him, but was enough to let him shoot up through a hole in the roof.

Crane prided himself on keeping a level-head in high-pressure situations. He was, after all, the calmest of the group when in battle, with maybe Tigress as a close second. He proved himself time and time again to be reliable and trustworthy, Shifu trusted him to get back to the Palace safely, and he was determined to not let himself be turned into a jombie.

However, the one damn time his life was on the line of a blade-swinging maniac with abnormally long chains he did not think straight enough to fly _anywhere but up._

“Wings of – REGRET!”

Regret indeed.

* * *

One of the times they actually listened to him was one of their first battles together as the Furious Five. It went down in legend with a name given by the public, but Viper always called it “The Breakthrough of Crane”, a name that Crane himself hadn’t fully agreed with but became stuck when the others found it to be fitting.

“I say we go for it.”

“When’s Tigress getting back? I’m sure she’ll know what to do.”

“I agree with Monkey- “

“Of _course_ you’ll agree with Monkey…”

“But what else do we do instead? Wait for them to find us?”

Crane stuck his beak into their little conversation. “They’ll definitely find us if you carry on like that.” He said with a lowered voice, his eyes roaming around the pit they were in.

“But do you think we should go for it?” Monkey asked him, ignoring his previous quip.

“But Tigress might have another plan.” Viper chimed in. “I’m sure she’ll think of something.”

Crane made a shushing sound which caused Monkey to retaliate. “We are in a _hole,_ in the _ground._ ” He gave Crane a weak glare, enunciating all his words.

“Monkey, I don’t care, just keep your voice down or they’ll find us.” He said flippantly, he could not be asked to deal with their impulsiveness. The tinge of guilt for ignoring Viper crawled its way up the back of his neck, _I’ll make it up to her later._

“He’s right about that.” They all turned around to see Tigress land a jump down into their dirt pit.

“Tigress!” Viper exclaimed happily. “What’s the plan?”

Mantis crawled onto her shoulder. “We’re outnumbered a thousand to one, it doesn’t look pretty.” He debriefed gravely.

Her face had the same expression that showed itself whenever they failed in a mission or when Shifu berated them. “I – I don’t have a plan.”

They looked at each other worriedly. Was this the end for them? Only two years together and they were going to die at the hands of the army of the Weeping River. It was their second mission branded as the Furious Five. If they died, which was a certainty at that moment, they would go down in history as failures of kung fu.

Tigress’ eyes went downcast and she wrung her paws, looking increasingly more worried. “I don’t – I don’t know what to _do._ ” Fidgeting was something Crane had never seen her do, as well as her shortness of breath interrupting her sentences. “I don’t know how we can win, there’s – there’s too many of them and we’d never – we’d never _make_ it – it’s too _much,_ – we need help.”

It honestly looked as if she was going to cry. Crane was actually worried at this point. If Tigress of all animals had given up, then they didn’t have any hope.

Viper climbed up to her shoulders and rested her head next to hers. “It’s alright sweetie, we’ll think of something.”

 _We’ll think of something,_ Viper’s words echoed through him, _but who? Who’s going to help us out?_ Crane looked out from where they were hiding and saw the giant army. It consisted from a variety of rhinos, gorillas, bears and rams. They all carried weapons of spears, blades and axes. Their amour, made of metal, looked uncomfortably heavy. Crane’s brain went into overdrive. _This means that we need to-_

“Tigress, are we going to – not make it back?” Mantis asked apprehensively, voicing the big question hanging between them.

Tigress opened and closed her mouth a few times. “Probably – probably not.” She said miserably.

A tense silence passed between them as they contemplated their death. Crane knew it wasn’t his time, the gods didn’t want him, and he still wasn’t good enough at kung fu to make it to the Spirit Realm. And besides, who’s to say they would be together in the afterlife? The last two years with the Five had been the best in his life and even in such a small space of time he considered them his family. The memories he’d made with them were wonderful, and though it was sappy, he wasn’t ready to let them go. He had yet to teach Tigress calligraphy, paint a portrait of Viper, play a game of mah-jong with Mantis or give Monkey an old family recipe of cookies with almonds. He deflated, remembering his promises that would probably never happen. _No! Think of battle tactics!_ He looked to the battlefield once more. _Wait a minute-_

“That’s it, I’m not going down without a fight!” Monkey growled, climbing swiftly out, hackles raised and ready to punch something into oblivion for causing his friends pain.

Again, Crane was not in the mood to deal with their impulsiveness. He did not want to suffer the consequences of Monkey’s protectiveness. “What are you doing?!” Crane hissed, instinctually picking him up and throwing him to Tigress’ feet. “You’re heading towards an early grave! We need to think about this first!”

“What do you suggest other than brute force?” Mantis said almost sarcastically, though it came out more frustrated. “What else have we got?” The second part sounded as though he was pretty strained himself.

“He’s right Crane, we have no other option.” Viper said sadly, locking sympathetic eyes with him.

Crane gripped the ground with his talons and flapped his wings slightly, his body’s usual reaction to frustration. If _Viper_ of all animals had given up hope then they needed his logic more than ever. “ _Stealth,_ we have _stealth_ and _height._ ” He said forcefully through gritted teeth. “They’re all big animals, they won’t notice someone as small as you.” He nudged Mantis with his beak. “And they’ve all got such huge weapons that they can hardly carry, they’d never be agile enough to hit _you._ ” He stared hard at Viper, trying to relay something, _anything,_ through their shared look. “Plus, their metal is made of armour so it’s too heavy to jump and take down someone who is flying,” He pushed his wings out slightly and gestured to Tigress and Monkey. “so dropping you two on top of them should be easy.”

This was met with silence and for a moment Crane had wondered if he’d got it all wrong,

Tigress looked at him through wide eyes. “Yes! Yes that’s it!” Crane almost smirked at her revelation from his little analysis. “You’re completely right!”

Monkey stared at him in shock and slowly raised his hand. “I second that.”

“And I third that!” Mantis said with delight, raising his pincer.

Viper smiled widely. “I think we might just have a chance now.” She muttered and patted him gratefully with her tail. “So, Tigress and Crane, what’s our plan?”

A grin grew on Tigress’ face, the one that Crane hadn’t seen for a while, and she nodded to herself. “Right, right, yes.” She took a breath and put on her usual stronger tone. “First we use Mantis to run between their legs and take them by surprise and then Viper comes from the other side as a distraction…”

It was in that moment, Crane supposed, being a pragmatist was extremely beneficial.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say that the chapters are in no particular order apart from the last one, and I started with Crane simply because this was the second fic I'd started writing for this fandom and my first one was Crane-centric so I felt it would be easier to start with him lol 
> 
> 1) I took inspiration for the first scene from when they blow up the building in the second movie but with minor changes haha, I'm not very good at coming up with stuff like this  
> 2) I coined Viper and Mantis as the aggressive types. Mantis is pretty obvious I think - but Viper I think has that trait because of the scene in the second movie where she says "let's burn down the building!" and she just looks so into it with a lil evil smile haha, she's totally aggressive in battle  
> 3) Crane definitely is the type to unintentionally get into petty arguments - his whole character can get pretty snippy and with his avoidance of confrontation that's a recipe for arguments  
> 4) If you're familiar with my other stuff you'll have noticed I use the whole "Guys..." dialogue for Viper a lot haha, I feel like I've used it fifty times already - but it really suits her  
> 5) Crane's scene with Kai really shocked me when I first watched it because that guy is huge! Crane really was little birdie there lol - and he also looked terrified.  
> 6) Also I've never seen a more panicked move from him than when he flew straight up instead of sideways haha  
> 7) This is quite prominent in the last scene and I've said it a lot in my other fics, but Crane and Viper are definitly close friends, I feel like their personalities would really click  
> 8) I feel Tigress wasn't the only one to make plans, the others would have a say in it I think  
> 9) The last scene is also an ode to the fact that Crane is really needed in the group. To be honest this whole fic is an ode to how all the characters are needed to make their group function.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the long author's note, but I wanted to explain my thought process behind this since this is one of the fics I worked a very long time on to get right! The next chapter will probably be out in three weeks or so, I've got other WIPs so remain patient please! And concrit on this is welcome with open arms! Hit me with anything I could improve on please!


	2. Peacemaker

* * *

Viper didn't run away from conflict. She faced it head on and _solved_ it.

At times the Five didn’t necessarily follow her philosophy, so Viper was left to do the job herself. It wasn’t something she minded at all, they all held a special place in her heart, but sometimes they couldn’t help but disturb the peace.

If she had hands then she would have put a palm to her face in frustration at Tigress and Po in Gongmen jail.

She could not believe that either of them had the _audacity_ to argue at a time like that. Gongmen, Kung Fu and China were all dangerously close to a gruesome end. Po was being absolutely ridiculous, and Tigress was just being protective but come _on_ could they have not kept it lowkey? Viper wanted to yell at them that they were both wasting everyone's time and the subject they were arguing about would only get worse the longer they wait. But she gritted her teeth and instead said something much more polite than what she really wanted to say.

"Guys, don't!"

They both made the mistake (in Viper’s opinion anyway) of ignoring her, and it turned physical. _Oh for crying out loud -_ this definitely went on the list as worst moments they'd ever had as a team.

As they scuffled, the need to step in and break it up was growing, not just because it was unnecessary and unwarranted, but because Viper felt it was a pretty unfair fight. They sparred together all the time, but right now Po was failing horribly. It was the first rule of Kung fu that you forget all grudges and relations and in the moment, remain completely emotionless. This was something Viper had seen Tigress perfect over the years, the need to control her anger in battle was so important. The risk of her killing someone was too high. And in the worst argument she’d seen them have, both Tigress and Po broke the golden rule. Po was visibly upset and every move he made was not calculated enough to get through the immoveable object that was Tigress.

 _They need to stop,_ she thought desperately. For a moment she was scared that Tigress might actually go too far and they'd have a wounded Po on their paws. _This awful, why aren’t they stopping?_ They were going to stop now, surely. They both knew the consequences of fighting with emotions, they all did. None of them had been there to witness it, but they knew from Oogway that when Shifu first fought Tai Lung he let his love and previous paternal relationship get in the way for their fight and couldn't let himself defeat him. Viper suspected the same thing had happened second time around when Po was forced to fulfill his destiny.

She shook herself out of her thoughts enough to see Tigress send Po flying and across the prison floor.

 _He has to give up now._ "Stay down!" She hissed to him, praying he’d listen to her. She was not in the mood to jump between them, having contracted a few burns from their recent building escape, and being used as a spring toy all day had really taken its toll.

She looked at Tigress, muscles contorted and stiff.

Tigress was angry.

This was not a good sign.

Against her better judgement, Po stood up with stupid bravery and determination. The others around her were stone-still with fear. She had to admit, when it came to Tigress, the guys were so pathetic. Mantis was always the first to disappear, he put on a brave front but backed down in a way that Viper loved to tease him for. Monkey knew not to cross her and though he wouldn't run like Mantis, he still hated to say anything to make her mad. Crane, surprisingly, was probably highest on her list of being able to hold his ground, though he still went under "pathetic" as he always found a way to dodge the aim of her verbal punch. It was sometimes slightly hilarious how Tigress fueled by anger petrified these so called 'hardened warriors'.

At the sight of their fight she was sure that Po would overtake Crane on the list, the guy just didn't want to give up. He repeatedly picked himself up over and over again, with Tigress growing increasingly more frustrated. The pit of dread that had settled itself in Viper started to really affect her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Tigress this angry, and she was pretty sure it ended in bloodshed for whatever enemy they were fighting. She knew she had to move and do something, but she was glued to the floor from her knowledge deep down that both Po and Tigress _needed_ this.

_On second thoughts…_

At the sight of Tigress lunging at Po after his meager explanation Viper could see him dead in their near future. “Tigress NO!” Her yell echoed through the prison walls and bounced back round like a boomerang.

She gaped and heard Crane’s beak fall open. Tigress had embraced Po, the last time she’d seen her hug anyone was about five years ago at the completion of a terrifyingly life or death mission. Viper sighed in relief, at least everything would be alright between them. She almost smiled, the notion of Tigress hugging Po would have been insane a year ago.

_Now that’s something you don’t see every day._

* * *

Another time Viper felt that her role in the group was very much needed was when she slithered into the kitchen to find the most unlikely of suspects arguing furiously.

"Mantis." Monkey took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "Did you or did you not take my almond cookies?!"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU!" Mantis boomed, standing on the table to give himself extra leverage, Viper made a guess it was to look more menacing. "NO!"

"WHERE ARE THEY THEN!" Monkey yelled back, shaking the empty jar.

"What on _earth_ are you arguing about?!" Viper had to strain to be heard over them.

Monkey looked to her for help. "Viper, tell this _theif_ that he needs to stop stealing my cookies!"

Mantis powered back with the same reinforcements. "Viper, tell this _imbecile_ that I never stole anything, and _he_ must have eaten them!"

Viper wanted to hit their heads together.

Their argument could probably be heard from the village and it was about _cookie_ s? She looked at them both incredulously. These grown adults were hilariously incapable of solving their own issues so much that she had to step in for them. She would have expected this from Crane and Mantis (she decided early on that he was just too dramatic for his own good and to pair him with Mantis would be a recipe for petty arguments), not the two best friends who spent every waking moment with each other.

She stared at Monkey, hard. "Why do you think Mantis stole your cookies?" She demanded, making sure they knew she meant business.

"Because he'd the only one who knows where I keep them!" Monkey gripped the jar like it was a life form, looking slightly heartbroken. "He _knows_ that I don't like anyone else eating them without my permission!"

"So that's why I've never eaten any that you haven't given me!" Mantis retorted.

“This argument is honestly – _unnecessary,_ ” She had to refrain from saying ‘ridiculous’, even if it _was_ ridiculous it still meant something to them. “has Mantis ever lied to you?” She asked Monkey pointedly.

“No – not that I know of.” Monkey said slowly, still watching Mantis with suspicion.

“Well, there _was_ that one time when you asked me about what happened with your bo staff – “ Once again, Mantis started off on another of his many tangents.

“Wait, _what-?!_ “

“Mantis!” Viper hissed. “Shut up! I’m helping you out here!” She turned back to Monkey. “But do you see what I mean? Mantis definitely didn’t take your cookies, he knows what they mean to you and he would never lie to you about it.”

Thankfully Monkey nodded, understanding where she was coming from. “So you’re telling the truth?” He asked Mantis apprehensively. “You didn’t eat my cookies?”

“Of course not! You’re my bestie, why would I?”

“You swear on Viper’s grave?”

“I swear on Viper’s grave.”

At that Viper sincerely hoped she was correct in her assumptions.

Monkey grinned happily and Mantis jumped on his shoulder as a sign of peace. As if on cue, Po came sauntering into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the empty cookie jar, guilt written all over his face.

His mouth hung open. “Uhhhhh… I – uh – I can explain…”

Viper smiled to herself, _mystery solved._

* * *

The Furious Five didn’t often argue, but when they did it was undoubtedly explosive and intruding due to their differing personalities. Even the petty ones could produce half-hearted fights. While Viper always made an effort to shift them, some disputes were inevitable. One argument in particular had actually started the week before with (lo and behold) Mantis and Crane.

Crane was near and dear to her heart. He truly was, but Viper didn’t shy away from being brutally honest with him when he was disturbing the peace…

“So what was it like being jombies?” Po asked excitedly, their first dinner back in the Jade Palace after staying in the Panda Village following the defeat of Kai.

“At first it just kinda felt like floating around as a spirit… with no existence or body…” Monkey started, staring off into the distance woozily as if remembering a distant dream.

“And then we got let out!” Mantis chimed in. “But I have no idea what I did as a jombie – I just felt that I was moving.” He scratched his chin in thought as he tried to explain the bizarre feeling.

“That’s so cool!” Po gushed.

“I don’t know if it was quite _cool,_ weird maybe, but nothing awesome.” Viper chuckled softly. “We had the feeling of moving around but it’s not like we could see anything, so it was more like waking up after a long dream.”

“So you have no idea what happened in the battle?” Tigress asked curiously.

Viper shook her head. “I have no recollection past being dragged to Kai by Jade Crane.” She gave him a mocking glare to her left.

Crane winced. “I hope it wasn’t a literal _drag_.”

Monkey snickered. “She was _flown_ through the air!”

“Jade Crane and Mantis were certainly hardcore.” Tigress said, a playful smile pulling at her lips. “Mantis knocked us all over a couple of times and Crane gave me a pretty powerful kick.”

“YEAH!” Mantis bellowed in celebration, jumping into Crane’s empty bowl with enthusiasm. “Go us amarite?”

Crane gave him an incredulous look. “Do you remember _anything_ before being Jaded?” He asked disbelievingly.

Viper almost stepped in there. Crane rarely confronted anyone, always preferring to shift the dispute around and far away from him. Though she couldn’t deny that she was ultimately curious about how Mantis and Crane were Jaded.

Mantis scoffed. “Pfff, of course! We got to the boat where the other masters were and you said something about Shifu’s orders but they ignored you, and then I got kinda worried because they didn’t come out the ship so I went to go in and you told me…” He faltered, then gulped guiltily.

“And I told you what?” Crane prompted with a raised eyebrow.

Viper did not like where this was going, the way Crane was talking did not reassure her that what happened between them was a friendly discussion. “Guys, don’t.” She warned. Was that her new catchphrase now? She sure had to repeat herself almost daily.

Once again, she was ignored.

“You said – you told me not to go in.” Mantis finished guiltily.

Crane nodded with a satisfied nod that disappeared as soon as Mantis opened his mouth again. “But how did _you_ get caught?”

Crane stopped and his eyes widened as if remembering something horrifying.

Viper knew this was her moment to change the subject tactfully. “Let’s not talk about that now,” She said quickly. “Tigress, what did you think of Mr Ping and Li Shan, it’s nice to see that they get along right?”

Tigress opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by Po of all people. “Oh come on Viper, let Crane tell us of his battle with Kai.” He

Crane scratched his neck absentmindedly with his talons. “Uh, I’d better not if Viper doesn’t want to hear it.” His excuse fell flat, they all knew that Viper loved hearing everyone talk about recent battles.

“Don’t worry buddy, we all got caught apart from Tigress who was pushed down the hill and Po who had an army of pandas,” Monkey reassured him, with an eye rolling from Tigress. “so no shame.” He held his hands up with a smile, prompting Crane to tell his story.

Crane’s eyes narrowed as he held his silence for a few seconds before speaking. “I went after Mantis then Kai took my qi, end of story.” He said curtly, and left the dining room in a few long steps.

Everyone stared after him in shock and Viper couldn’t refrain herself from berating them. “Oh well done guys.” She said angrily, glaring at Monkey, Po and Mantis.

“What?” Monkey seemed genuinely confused and in spite of herself Viper felt a tinge of guilt.

She huffed in annoyance and gestured to Crane’s empty place at the table. “Do none of you take signals? _Honestly._ ”

Mantis had the sense to look a little guilty but still opened his mouth. “But he was trying to make _me_ talk about it as well, so I didn’t think he wouldn’t want to tell us what happened.”

“From what I gathered, you probably ran in impulsively while he told you that Shifu asked you to _observe only_!” She growled through gritted teeth while Mantis nodded guiltily. “God, it’s like the Breakthrough of Crane all over again.” She muttered to herself.

“What?!” Mantis exclaimed, affronted. “That time was Monkey!”

Monkey sat back in his chair. “Don’t bring me into this.”

“It’s the same situation!” Viper yelled back. “For the love of everything that is kung fu could you _please_ not argue with me for once!”

Po leaned over to Tigress. “What’s the Breakthrough of Crane?” He asked quietly.

“The Battle of the Weeping River.”

He gasped. “Can I hear _that_ story?!”

“Not at this rate.” Mantis muttered.

Monkey forced his finger in Mantis’ mouth as Tigress nudged her. “You’d better go talk to him, I’ll take care of these guys.”

She almost sighed as she slithered off to Crane’s room to find the doors open with no sign of life. _Crane so help me if you are up a tree,_ she thought angrily. Viper, historically, was never in the mood for fighting. It was part of the reason she was the peacemaker because the others would fight to the death if it meant they won the argument. Crane was usually never a culprit of arguments, especially not large ones. He generally only got involved in pettier things like if someone had touched his hat or not.

After looking round the training hall and courtyard she finally found him, standing at the top of the Thousand Steps, looking out at the sky.

“I took care of them, you’ll be glad to know.” She said loudly as she slithered up to sit next to him.

He hummed in acknowledgement, eyes distant and unfocused.

Viper took a deep breath, _might as well go for it._ “I know you inside out and battles have never bothered you, so why the reaction with Kai? You don’t have to tell me what happened, I just want to know why.”

Crane sighed. “I – I failed horribly.”

“We were all captured though, what makes you feel so strongly about this?”

“Kai was – a lot _bigger_ than I thought he’d be.” He said slowly.

“And it took you by surprise?” Viper finished for him.

She knew deep down that Kai couldn’t have just taken him by surprise. It was something much more than that, otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted so strongly.

“Yeah, I guess.” He said dejectedly.

Viper climbed her way onto him and patted him with her tail. “You needn’t worry about that, it happens to the best of us.”

She watched his wings for a moment and wrapped her coils stealthily around his torso. She decided she’d kill two birds with one stone and keep him from flying away while absorbing his body heat. It was a chilly night after all and none of the Five ever complained about her little habit.

He managed a weak smile at her in thanks. “But you still need to say something to them.” She said sternly, wiping away any traces of contentedness from his face.

Crane gave her his signature unconvinced look, his wings pushing slightly against her with a mind of their own. “Are you kidding me?”

She stared at him in disbelief also. “Oh come _on_ you don’t seriously think they’re the only ones in the wrong? Don’t you know what you did?” Viper didn’t even feel bad about reprimanding him.

“Whose side are _you_ on?” He retorted, his wings instinctually fluttered irritably but still stuck to his sides by Viper’s stubborn coils.

Viper hissed at him, her tongue flicking out at his feathers and her coils tightening slightly. “I’m never on anyone’s side! That’s why I solve all our problems!” She exclaimed. “Now, do you know what you did wrong?” She repeated sternly.

He made a grunt of disagreement but complied. “Look, I overreacted, okay? I know I shouldn’t have stormed out and it was wrong of me to pressure Mantis into telling his side of the story when I didn’t want to tell mine.”

Viper nodded along happily, enthusiastic at his admission. “Yes, good! You realise what you did wrong.”

“Can you go and tell them I’m sorry?”

She whipped her head round to glare at him. “I am not a _goose,_ Crane. Go tell them yourself.”

He rolled his eyes like an irate child. “ _Fine,_ but you’re coming with me.”

She smiled, _finally,_ everything would be resolved and everyone would be resting easy that night. He began to make the trek to the barracks and Viper briefly wondered if everyone else had gone to bed yet, it was pretty late. _I wonder what Tigress said to them,_ she mused _._ A part of her hoped that Tigress hadn’t been too harsh, the blame didn’t lie on just one of them. _But,_ she sighed inwardly, _Tigress wouldn’t get that sort of thing._ Fond as she was of her, Tigress (or any of the others) just didn’t think the way she did when it came to arguments.

“Do you _have_ to do that?”

“Do what?”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you wrap yourself around my wings when you talk to me.”

Viper giggled slightly, out of embarrassment at being caught out or because his fluttering feathers tickled her, she didn’t know. “You could take it as a compliment that I don’t want you to fly away from me.” She wanted to hide her face, playing off as cool was never her strong suit.

“Yes, it’s very flattering that I have the best body heat out of all of us.” He smirked at her look of surprise, how long had he known?

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” She gave him a playful squeeze, putting on a mock annoyed voice. “yours is just easiest to absorb.”

He laughed then. “And it’s also _definitely_ not because you like my feathers.”

She closed her eyes in embarrassment but couldn’t help but laugh along with him. “Stop being so _mean_!” She swatted his hat over his eyes as payback to which he laughed even more. “You’re literally the worst…”

“If it makes you feel any better, I like how smooth your scales are.”

“Thank you! It’s nice to know that _someone_ notices I keep hydrated.” She said in exasperation.

He chuckled at her reaction, a stark contrast to how she reacted to their conversations when they were younger. It made her cringe thinking of some of the things she said to him. He was the second member of the Five she became close with, the first being Tigress, and she was initially mesmerised at him being a few years older. Before meeting the Five she’d never had any friends who were older than her. (Actually, she’d never had any friends _at all_ since she spent most of her life hiding away her lack of fangs) Crane softened to her instantly, not noticing or being tactful enough to not point out her missing venom. Viper was embarrassed to admit that she was quite taken by him as well. His painting and calligraphy ability was impressive, and to a teenage Viper who was ( _was, Tigress, **was**_ ) a hopeless romantic it was the ultimate thing to make him her favourite. (And she definitely did _not_ have a silly crush on him when she was a teen thank you very much).

It was times like these that reminded Viper how much a peacemaker was needed.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of this fandom coin Viper as being the mother hen, but I feel her role is more important than just keeping everyone in line. 
> 
> 1) That first scene was where the "Guys..." dialogue was born haha, it genuinely kicked off that little bit of fanon for the rest of my stories.   
> 2) I do wish Viper had more to say in that scene as well, since I think it's quite telling of her character   
> 3) I like to think the Five have their immature moments when they're together, as everyone does when they're with their friends. My evidence for this lies in the dinner scene in the first film and also a lot of their dialogue in the third film.  
> 4) I was hesitant to post this chapter because it seems like they fight often which... is not true. Because for the sake of this chapter, I've picked out moments when I think they would argue.  
> 5) Also I went a bit hard with the Crane angst but as I wrote in the previous chapter - that moment was pretty scary from his point of view.   
> 6) And you'll notice now that there is a slight connection between the chapters so far. 
> 
> I definitely had more notes on the way I wrote Viper and why but... I can't find or remember them! I wrote this chapter about 5 months ago and my memory is awful! 
> 
> Feel free to let me know what you think!


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